GERMINAL
for both of them disapproved of the hiring of this unknown man, especially Levaque, who was offended that he had not been consulted. So Catherine was glad to hear her father explain things to the young man.
“Look! above the cage there is a parachute with iron grapnels to catch into the guides in case of breakage. Does it work? Oh, not always. Yes, the shaft is divided into three compartments, closed by planking from top to bottom; in the middle the cages, on the left the passage for the ladders "
But he interrupted himself to grumble, though taking care not to raise his voice much:
“What are we stuck here for, blast it? What right have they to freeze us in this way?”’
The captain, Richomme, who was going down himself, with his free lamp fixed by a nail into the leather of his cap, heard him.
“Careful! look out for ears,” he murmured paternally, as an old miner with an affectionate feeling for comrades. “Workmen must do what they can. Hold! here we are; get in with your people.”
The cage, provided with iron bands and a small meshed lattice work, was in fact awaiting them on the bars. Maheu, Zacharie and Catherine slid into a tram below, and as all five had to enter, Étienne in his turn went in, but the good places were taken; he had to squeeze himself near the young girl, whose elbow pressed into his belly. His lamp embarrassed him; they advised him to fasten it to the button-hole of his jacket. Not hearing, he awkwardly kept it in his hand. The embarkation continued, above and below, a confused packing of cattle. They did not, however, set out. What, then, was happening? It seemed to him that his impatience lasted for many minutes. At last he felt a shock, and the light grew dim, everything around him seemed to fly, while he experienced the dizzy anxiety of a fall contracting his bowels. This lasted as long as he could see light, through the two reception storeys, in the midst of the whirling flight of the scaffolds. Then, having fallen into the blackness of the pit, he became stunned, no longer any clear perception of his sensations.
“Now we are off,” said Maheu, quietly.
[27]
